Originally posted by whodey
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/jail-survey-7-in-10-felons-register-as-democrats/article/2541412
In a new survey, 7 out of 10 felons seem to register as democrats
Coincidence?
There is a potential clue in a nice little book which I finished reading quite recently: called "Granny Made Me An Anarchist" by Stuart Christie
In prison, both in Spain and the UK, Christie spent time with characters responsible for some vile crimes, some of whom he describes in his book. He concluded: "Before I went to prison my world view was black and white, a moral chessboard on which everyone was either a goody or a baddy. But the ambiguities in people I came across in prison made me uneasy and I began to question my assumptions about the nature of good and evil. I came to recognise that apparently kind people sometimes had a duplicitous side, while those with a reputation for cruelty sometimes showed themselves capable of great selflessness and generosity of spirit. ... I was brought face to face with what Hannah Arendt termed 'the banality of evil'. As far as I could tell, there was no psychological or sociological equation between intelligence and bravery, conviction and courage, ideology and humanity or class and generosity of spirit. .. The fact I met very few people who could honestly be called 'evil' made me more inclined to look for the reason they had committed evil acts. I became less judgemental of individuals and more committed to oppose a form of society that inclined individuals to commit crimes against each other." [pp201,202]
One thing you may notice after a moment's thought. Christie is not talking about himself but about others. It is not his view of himself that has changed in prison but his views about the other people he encountered there. Similarly, what prison may be doing in the study you describe is not particularly connected with selfish interests, but possibly generating a new awareness and concern for others. In other words, they cease to be so self absorbed and so selfish, and become more socially concerned, which brings them closer to Democrat values than the values of the Republicans.
What that study certainly also clarifies is the reason why Republicans work to prevent ex convicts from being able to vote. Nothing to do with morality or social concern, everything to do with vote fixing. You see, democrats (the small d is intentional) do not need to explain why everyone should vote in a democracy - it is those who take away votes from large sections of the population that need a justification. It is rational to invite people back into society once they have served their time and irrational to exclude them - excpet for cynical, partisan objectives.
{Since you ask, he was imprisoned in Spain for bringing explosives to blow up Franco with. This was illegal at that time in Spain. In the UK he was wrongfully imprisoned on trumped up political charges before being freed when found not guilty.]